EBay plans to cut 2,400 jobs, or 7 percent of its work force, in the first quarter as it prepares to spin off its PayPal business, which employs hundreds in the Baltimore area.
The job cuts will fall across its PayPal, marketplaces and enterprise businesses. The company would not disclose how many jobs would be cut from each business unit or geographical region, a spokeswoman said.
The online auctioneer employs about 800 people in three locations in the Baltimore area. It built a presence in the region after buying Timonium startup Bill Me Later for $945 million in 2008 and merging it with PayPal.
San Jose, California-based eBay is spinning off PayPal into an independent company in the second half of the year. It was under pressure to improve profitability from activist investor Carl Icahn, who is one of eBay's largest investors with a 3.7-percent stake in the company.
PayPal services $1 of every $6 dollars spent online. It collects fees from over 162 million users who use the online service to send money to other users and pay for goods and services in more than 200 markets.
EBay said Wednesday it may also spin off or sell its enterprise unit, which develops online shopping sites for brick-and-mortar retailers, and agreed to add an executive from Icahn's firm to its board.
The e-commerce company reported Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net income rose 10 percent on PayPal's continued strength.
Baltimore Sun reporter Scott Dance and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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